As you explore the city, you’ll likely notice Houston channel letter signs in many different places. This common type of business signage is attractive, eye-catching, and easy to read. If it’s time to update or replace your outdoor signage, consider channel letter signs for your business. Here is a guide with everything you need to know about channel letter signs.
What are Houston Channel Letter Signs?
Channel letter signs are three-dimensional letters that you can combine to make a sign for your business. Because they are separate from each other and create shadows on a building’s face, they are easy to read from afar. Additionally, Houston channel letter signs offer flexible design options, from fonts, colors, sizes, and more. You can even recreate your logo with these signs.
While these signs can come lit or unlit, most use LED lighting to increase visibility day and night. Today, most channel letter Houston custom signs utilize LED lighting, which is brighter, longer-lasting, and more energy-efficient than neon lights. While they offer many benefits to your business, channel letter signs are a cost-effective way to grab attention for your location.
Houston Channel Letter Components & Materials
The letters in your signage are made up of a few different components. Each piece works together to create an attractive professional sign. Additionally, your sign company utilizes high-quality and durable materials to ensure longevity for your signage. Channel letter signs include a face, a trim cap, a return, a back, and an optional light source.
Face
The faces of your Houston channel letter signs are front pieces of your signs. These are generally made of colored acrylic sheeting cut to the shape of your letters.
Trim Cap
The trim cap portions of your channel letter sign attach the face to the body of each letter. Your signage company uses durable plastic to create trim caps for your channel letter signs.
Return
Returns are the sides of the letters in your Houston custom signs. Your company shapes these pieces to form the characters that make up your business sign. Using aluminum sheeting for your letter returns allows you the option to customize the color of the sheeting or paint the returns any color you like.
Back
The backs of your channel letter signs are generally metal or plastic to prevent dirt and debris accumulation or bird nests inside your letters.
Light Source
Your Houston channel letter signs also come with an optional lighting source, depending on whether you want your signage lit or not. Generally, these include LED lights, as they are efficient, bright, and inexpensive.
Types of Houston Channel Letter Signs
While all channel letter signs come with those components, we can arrange them in different ways to form different types of signs. The three main types of channel letter signs are front-lit, reverse, and combination.
Front-Lit Channel Letter Signs
Also known as standard channel letter signs, front-lit signs are the most common type of channel letter signage. While lighting is optional for these signs, most businesses use lights to illuminate the face of the letters. This helps increase visibility at any time of day, but especially at night.
Reverse Houston Channel Letter Signs
To create reverse-lit Houston channel letter signs, your sign company mounts the letters away from the wall to allow for backlighting. This backlighting forms a light “halo” behind your signage. These signs utilize metal facing and a clear plastic backing to create the backlit effect.
Combination Front and Back Lit Signs
In addition, channel letter Houston custom signs can also use both front and backlighting. In these signs, both the face and the back are lit up by your light source. This is a great way to create contrast in your sign. For example, the faces of your letters might be blue with yellow backlighting.
Mounting Options
How you choose to mount your Houston channel letter signs will depend on a variety of factors. For example, some lease agreements and municipal building codes require a certain type of mounting for your signage. The main difference in mounting styles is where your sign installation technician hides the wiring for your sign’s lighting.
Raceway Mounting
The raceway method of installing channel letter signs is generally the easiest technique. For raceway mounting, your sign company will install your letters on a narrow box. This box will house the wiring for your light source. Then, they will usually paint this box the same color as the building’s face. This helps create contrast between your letters and disguise the box. Raceway mounting requires less drilling, which leaves fewer holes after removing the sign. Therefore, it is often the preferred method of installation for businesses that lease their space.
Direct Mount
Direct mounting your Houston channel letter signs includes attaching each individual letter directly to the building’s façade. For reverse channel letter signs, your sign company will place spacers between the building’s wall and your letters to create enough space for the backlighting to work effectively. For these signs, the wiring is placed behind the building’s front wall.
Backer Mount
A backer mount is like raceway mounting, as it includes installing your letters on a metal cabinet or backer panel. However, the backer mount method utilizes a panel that is bigger than your letters. This can help create contrast in your Houston channel letter signs and allows you other decorative options. You can think of backer panels as a decorative text box that you can fill in with different colors and patterns. The wiring for a backer-mounted channel letter sign hides either in the backer cabinet or behind the building façade, depending on your preferences.
If you’re considering channel letter signs for your business, choose a quality sign company for your Houston custom signs. At 4D Signworx, we have been designing, manufacturing, and installing signs for Houston area businesses for over 50 years. Unlike other sign companies, we operate out of a 45,000 square foot facility that allows us to fabricate our signs on site. This cuts out wholesalers to ensure high-quality craftsmanship and budget-friendly prices. Call us today at (713) 984-2010 to request a quote for your upcoming signage project. We are here to serve you!